


Roast Dinner

by OTPshipper98



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Harry Potter Has PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Therapy, bullet point fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29158734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPshipper98/pseuds/OTPshipper98
Summary: Draco helps Harry overcome a small part of his trauma.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74





	Roast Dinner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheLightFury](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLightFury/gifts).



> Originally written and [posted on Tumblr](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185938734988/congratulations-words-for-a-hc-roast) in June of 2019 for TheLightFury's prompt: _roast dinner_.

  * Harry never, ever, ever eats roast dinner.
  * Every time his friends ask him why he avoids the dish, a different memory comes to mind. Aunt Petunia yelling at him for not helping her cook after he’d been busy doing homework. Uncle Vernon flipping Harry’s plate to the floor because Harry had dared ask a question. He can’t remember what, though he does remember wiping the potatoes from the tiles while uncle Vernon towered over him.
  * Sometimes they aren’t even memories. It’s just a feeling of… unease. No, not of unease. Of danger. The smell of the dish at the Burrow is enough to set him on edge, and sometimes he doesn’t realise there’s something wrong with him until he’s snapping at something someone says and he has to retreat to his room for a few hours.
  * it’s not until a few years after the war that he actually brings it up with his therapist. It crosses his mind during a session purely by coincidence—he’s never really paid much mind to it. He kind of expects his therapist to laugh at him.
  * Instead, the therapist asks, “Do you miss it?”
  * “Roast dinner? I mean… Yeah. It tasted nice.”
  * “We don’t always have to face the things that bring us bad memories,” is what she tells him then. He’s heard it before. “If you had no interest in the dish, it would be pointless to try to overcome the memories you’ve attached to it. But if those memories are the only thing preventing you from enjoying a dish you like, it may be worth a shot, don’t you think?”
  * By the end of the session, they’ve decided Harry’s going to try.
  * He explains the plan to Draco that evening, the both of them curled on the sofa, Harry sipping at the hot chocolate mug Draco always prepares for him after his therapy sessions.
  * “I’m supposed to eat it with you,” he says, “because you make me feel safe. And I’m supposed to eat it when I’m having a nice day, not when I’m upset about work or anything, because the goal is to associate the dish to new memories, and that those memories are good.”
  * Draco hums. He lifts the mug from Harry’s hands and takes a sip. “We can do that,” he tells Harry, a line of chocolate traced out on his upper lip.
  * The following Saturday, Draco and Harry organise a date.
  * A date consisting of lighting a few candles through the house, of sitting by the hearth and laughing at old movies on the telly. Of randomly turning on the wireless and breaking into a silly waltz, of tickling the other after a hot bath together until they’re both rolling on their towels and soaking the bed.
  * That evening, Draco makes roast dinner.
  * Harry is nervous. He can already feel himself shaking, his heartbeat starting to quicken. His thoughts skittering.
  * Draco notices. He asks Harry if he can deal with music, and when Harry says yes, he turns on the wireless on the classical music channel. When Harry says he’s okay with touch, too, Draco holds his waist and starts to rock them until they’re tumbling into a silly dance and chuckling into each other’s neck.
  * In the kitchen, dinner is cooking itself under Draco’s spells. But when the smell gets to Harry, it mixes with that of Draco’s shampoo. With that of Draco’s skin, with the sound of Draco’s laughter.
  * And when dinner’s ready, the sight of the dishes on the table mixes with Draco’s smile. With Draco’s proud expression, the one he always sports after cooking something he knows will taste delicious.
  * When they sit down beside each other, Draco drapes his leg over Harry’s under the table and kindly informs him that—"You look like a hedgehog, love. I think I could hang my keys from a strand of your hair and they wouldn’t fall.“
  * It’s a light-hearted attempt to keep Harry’s thoughts in the present, but it makes Harry nervous. He doesn’t talk much about it, but his aunt and uncle used to mock his hair at every possible chance.
  * "Sorry,” Draco whispers, brushing his fingers to the back of Harry’s hand. “I said the wrong thing, didn’t I?”
  * Harry intertwines their fingers. “It’s okay,” he says. “I’m okay.” He takes a moment to breathe, a moment to close his eyes. Then he takes a bite of the meat.
  * The flavour, the consistency, seem to bloom in his mouth, to melt over his tongue.
  * And perhaps it’s because he’s missed it; perhaps because Draco is truly an outstanding cook. Whatever the reason, he swallows the mouthful with a hum and a tingle of warmth at the bottom of his chest.
  * He almost takes another bite, but instead sets the fork on the plate and buries his face on Draco’s warm neck, shamelessly sniffing his hair.
  * “You smell nice,” he tells Draco, as though that settles everything. And, “It tastes so good, dammit.” And, “I love you.” 



**Author's Note:**

> I'll add a link here to the other bullet-point headcanons I have posted on my Tumblr, because these are shorter and are more headcanon than fic-formatted, so they probably don't belong on AO3:
> 
> [Drarry + eggs](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185799361423/congrats-on-500-followers-my-darling-termite-i)
> 
> [Drarry + learning to find comfort in their surroundings (and in each other)](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185692877138/congrats-on-your-new-follower-milestone-ive-a)
> 
> [Drarry + flower](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185576507183/hi-my-word-for-your-game-is-flower)
> 
> [Drarry + cupcakes](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185155072103/cupcakes)
> 
> [Drarry + potato](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185247285923/potato)
> 
> [Drarry + bird](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185231562778/bird)
> 
> [Drarry + soup](https://rockmarina.tumblr.com/post/185162110398/soup-for-the-word-in-wip-thingy)


End file.
